Caller Tells Shelagh Fogarty He Fears For Parents' Lives If UK Leaves EU Without Deal
30 August 2019, 17:17
"No-Deal means no medicine for us," says son of two immigrants who moved to the UK in the 1960s from Portugal and Spain.
Shelagh Fogarty was discussing protests ahead of a weekend of potential civil disobedience across the country when one caller gave an emotionally charged reason for taking part in a march.
Frank in Hampton said he felt like he "had to" get involved in his first demonstration because both his parents hail from EU nations.
He said: "I am the EU. I'm the best of the EU. I'm the son of two immigrants who came over in the 60s, one from Portugal, one from Spain. They found each other and had a life here. They still have a life here.
"But they have no say. And I'm marching for the 3 million that don't have a say. Whatever happens. No-deal means no medicine for them.
"I hope they'll get seen in a hospital, but there's no guarantee. I'm looking into private healthcare for my parents. They're pensioners, they're just picking up their pensions. They just want to get on with their lives.
Frank continued by telling Shelagh of how his mum worked as a nurse and his dad ran his own company, both paying their taxes and now "just want to be left alone".
He continued: "I don't want to do the settled status scheme. They know they're here. We got a letter the other day to register again to vote.
"What? Vote in the local elections? To vote someone in who's not going to represent them, who can't represent them now."
When Shelagh asked if his parents had ever sought British citizenship, Frank replied by saying, "No. They're Portuguese and they're Spanish, just like the English people who live in Malaga are English.
"They don't see why they should have to trade in their nationality, just so they can continue to live in the place that they paid taxes for 50 years in."
Shelagh responded by saying she could hear Frank's pain and wished him and his parents, "who no longer have a voice," well.
